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The IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is a solid business credit card for business owners looking to save on hotel stays. The card earns IHG points, which can be redeemed at hotel brands such as Holiday Inn, Crowne Plaza, Kimpton, InterContinental, and more.
Plus, the card gives you automatic Platinum Elite status — the second-highest elite tier of the IHG One Rewards loyalty program. Best of all, you get all this and a lot more for a reasonable $99 annual fee.
Here's everything you need to know about the IHG One Rewards Business Card to help you decide if it's a fit for your wallet.
- Earn 140,000 Bonus Points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening.
- Enjoy an Anniversary Free Night at IHG Hotels & Resorts. Plus, enjoy a fourth reward night free when you redeem points for a consecutive four-night IHG® hotel stay.
- Earn up to 26 total points per $1 spent when you stay at IHG Hotels and Resorts
- Earn 5 points per $1 spent on purchases on travel, at gas stations, select advertising, and restaurants. Earn 3 points per $1 spent on all other purchases
- Automatic Platinum Elite status as long as you remain a Premier Business cardmember
- Global Entry, TSA PreCheck® or NEXUS Statement Credit of up to $120 every 4 years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to your card
- IHG One Rewards Bonus points are redeemable at hotels such as InterContinental®, Crowne Plaza®, Kimpton®, EVEN® Hotels, Indigo® Hotels & Holiday Inn®
- Member FDIC
- Rates & Fees
- Earn 26x total points per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on travel, dining, social media search engine advertising, and at office supply stores and gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for charging your stay to your IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- Earn 6X bonus points for having IHG®Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X base points for being an IHG® One Rewards Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
Page Contents
- IHG One Rewards Business Card Pros
- IHG One Rewards Business Card Cons
- IHG One Rewards Business Card Welcome Bonus
- IHG One Rewards Business Card Benefits
- Free anniversary night
- Earn a second free night award
- Complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status
- Fourth night free on award stays
- Save on points purchases
- United TravelBank credit
- $120 trusted traveler program reimbursement
- Bonus points and statement credit via spending
- No foreign transaction fees
- Purchase and shopping protections
- IHG One Rewards Business Card Earning Rates
- Redeeming Points with the IHG One Rewards Business Card
- Application Restrictions
- Cards That Compete With the IHG One Rewards Business Card
- Bottom Line
IHG One Rewards Business Card Pros
- Complimentary IHG One Rewards Platinum Elite status.
- Get a fourth night free on award redemptions.
- Annual benefits include a free night certificate and up to $50 in United TravelBank credit.
IHG One Rewards Business Card Cons
- Has a $99 annual fee.
- The card's 20% discount on IHG points purchases doesn't stack with point sale promotions.
- Limited travel and shopping protections compared to other small-business credit cards.
IHG One Rewards Business Card Welcome Bonus
For a $99-a-year card, the IHG One Rewards Business Card has a surprisingly valuable welcome bonus. As a new cardholder, you'll earn 140,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 in the first 3 months from account opening.
So, what are those 140,000 bonus points worth?
On average, AwardWallet users redeem IHG One Rewards points for 0.68¢ apiece. That makes the IHG One Rewards Business Card‘s welcome bonus worth over $950 in value. That's pretty solid for a co-branded hotel card.
Related: The Best Rewards Credit Card Offers for This Month
IHG One Rewards Business Card Benefits
Welcome bonus aside, the IHG One Rewards Business Card has fantastic under-the-hood benefits that can easily justify keeping it in your wallet every year. Here's a look at all the benefits cardholders can enjoy:
Free anniversary night
On each cardholder anniversary, you'll receive a free night award worth up to 40,000 points. Even better, there are no spending requirements or hoops to jump through to get it. All you have to do is pay the annual fee when it comes due.
This perk alone can provide hundreds of dollars in value, easily justifying the card's $99 annual fee.
IHG also lets you top off your free night certificates with an uncapped number of points. That means you can use your certificate towards a more expensive award night and use your IHG point balance to cover the difference.
Say you want to book a reward night costing 60,000 points. You can redeem your free night certificate plus 20k IHG points to book the night. This unlimited top-off ability sets IHG free night certificates apart from all other hotel brands.
Related: How To Earn and Use IHG Award Night Certificates
Earn a second free night award
If one annual free night isn't enough, you can spend your way to a second one. After spending $60,000 in a calendar year on your card, you'll earn another free night award worth up to 40,000 points.
Complimentary IHG Platinum Elite status
Traditionally, earning Platinum Elite status requires staying 40 nights at IHG properties or earning 60,000 qualifying points (around $6k in hotel spending). These requirements are waived for IHG One Rewards Business Card holders, who are entitled to Platinum Elite just by carrying the credit card.
With your status, you'll enjoy the following benefits as long as you keep renewing your card:
- 60% bonus points on eligible IHG stays.
- Welcome amenity at check-in.
- Complimentary space-available upgrades.
- Earn suite night upgrades, bonus points, and more through IHG Milestone Rewards.
- Guaranteed room availability.
- Early check-in and late checkout (subject to availability).
- No blackout dates for reward nights.
- No points expiration as an IHG elite status member
You also can spend your way to Diamond Elite status, which offers more premium perks than Platinum Elite. You'll unlock Diamond Elite after spending $40,000 on your card in a calendar year. After meeting the threshold, your new elite status will be valid through the end of the following year.
Fourth night free on award stays
Cardholders who book at least four nights using IHG points get the fourth night free. Even better, this perk is valid for every increment of four nights. So, on long stays, you can get the eighth night free, the twelfth night free, and so on.
In addition, you can use the fourth-night-free benefit an unlimited number of times. This is a super valuable benefit, especially at higher-end properties.
Related: How To Get and Use the IHG Fourth Night Free Benefit
Save on points purchases
If you're short on points for your next award stay, you can buy them with a 20% discount.
Unfortunately, you can't stack this discount with other IHG points sales. So, this perk is only semi-valuable when you need to top off your points balance for an award redemption when IHG isn't actively running a sale on IHG point purchases.
United TravelBank credit
Get up to $50 TravelBank credit annually after linking your IHG One Rewards Business Card with your United MileagePlus account. You'll receive $25 in January, valid through July 15, and another $25 in July for use through January 15 of the following calendar year.
You can use TravelBank credits to purchase United flights. But unfortunately, you can't use them to cover the taxes and fees on an award redemption.
Related: Which Credit Card Should You Use to Pay Award Taxes and Fees?
$120 trusted traveler program reimbursement
An easy way to offset the application cost for Global Entry, TSA PreCheck, or NEXUS is to swipe your IHG One Rewards Business Card. You'll receive up to $120 in fee reimbursements for trusted traveler program enrollments or renewals every four years.
Related: Expedited Security Screening Programs: How To Get Them for Free
Bonus points and statement credit via spending
Each year, cardholders can earn a $100 statement credit and 10,000 IHG One Rewards points if they spend $20,000 on the card that calendar year.
No foreign transaction fees
You'll never pay foreign transaction fees when you use your card abroad.
Purchase and shopping protections
Last but not least, cardholders can also leverage a list of travel, purchase, and shopping protections.
- Trip cancellation and interruption insurance: Get reimbursed up to $1,500 per person and $6,000 per trip on pre-paid and non-refundable passenger fares if your trip is interrupted by sickness or severe weather.
- Travel and emergency assistance services: Chase's Benefits Administrator will help coordinate legal and medical referrals or other emergency services if you're away from home. However, you will be responsible for covering the cost related to those services.
- Auto rental collision damage waiver: Enjoy primary coverage on business rentals in the U.S. and abroad when you decline the rental company's collision insurance and put the entire rental cost on your card.
- Purchase protection: Covers new purchases for 120 days against damage or theft — up to $10,000 per claim and $50,000 per account.
- Extended warranty protection: Warranties of three years are less are extended for an additional year.
IHG One Rewards Business Card Earning Rates
On everyday and small business purchases, you'll earn IHG One Rewards points at the following rates:
- Earn 26x total points per $1 spent when you stay at an IHG hotel
- 5X points per $1 spent on travel, dining, social media search engine advertising, and at office supply stores and gas stations
- 3X points per $1 spent on all other purchases
The earning for spending at IHG hotels breaks down as follows:
- Earn 10X points for charging your stay to your IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card
- Earn 6X bonus points for having IHG®Platinum Elite Status, a benefit of having this card
- Earn 10X base points for being an IHG® One Rewards Member (Being a cardholder is not required to earn this bonus for participating in the IHG® loyalty program)
If IHG is your brand of choice, these bonus spending categories will help your point balance add up quickly. However, other cards might provide a better return on your spending — outside of purchases at IHG properties.
Related: The Best Rewards Credit Cards for Each Spending Category
Redeeming Points with the IHG One Rewards Business Card
Here's a look at the many ways you can redeem IHG One Rewards points.
IHG stays
The most straightforward way to redeem your IHG points is for free stays at IHG hotels. IHG uses a dynamic pricing model; rooms can cost as little as 5,000 points per night and up to 175,000 points per night (or more at select luxury brands that are dynamically priced).
Still, it's possible to obtain excellent value from IHG award stays with a little effort. Points & Cash redemptions are another option if you're short on the points needed for your next stay.
For some redemption inspiration, check out our guide to the best IHG redemptions for luxury stays.
Airline miles
It is possible to convert your IHG points to more than 40 airlines if you're short on miles for a free flight. Given the generally poor transfer ratios, this isn't a high-value use of your points. You'll usually get better value from your points by booking free (or nearly free) hotel nights.
Here's a snapshot of some of the airlines you can transfer IHG points to:
Experiences
IHG offers exclusive experiences for One Rewards members. You can use your IHG points for things like sports tickets, tours, personalized experiences, and more. Depending on what you redeem for, the value of your IHG points will vary.
Gift cards, merchandise, and digital media
An option we don't recommend for redeeming IHG points is through gift cards, merchandise, and digital media. Generally, you'll get poor value from your points on redemptions by redeeming points this way — think 13,000 points for a $25 gift card. Based on recent AwardWallet user redemptions, those 13k points are worth around $88 when redeemed for IHG hotels.
Related: Do IHG One Rewards Points Expire?
Application Restrictions
As a Chase-issued product, the IHG One Rewards Business Card is subject to the bank's infamous 5/24 rule. Even though most business credit cards don't add to your 5/24 count, you still need to fall under this metric to get approved for this or other Chase credit cards.
Therefore, if you've opened five or more credit cards in the past 24 months and they show up on your credit report, you'll likely be denied for this card.
Other credit card application restrictions also make it unlikely that you'll be approved for more than one business card with Chase in less than 90 days. You also can't receive the bonus on this card if you currently have the card or received a bonus on it in the last 24 months. From the offer terms:
“This new cardmember bonus offer is not available to either (i) current cardmembers of this business credit card, or (ii) previous cardmembers of this business credit card who received a new cardmember bonus for this business credit card within the last 24 months.”
Related: How To Plan a Long-Term Credit Card Strategy
Cards That Compete With the IHG One Rewards Business Card
If this isn't the right card for your small business wallet, here are some other options to consider:
- If you want rewards you can use with more than IHG, look into the Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card. It earns transferable Ultimate Rewards points, which you can transfer 1:1 to IHG but also can use with airlines, hotels, or the Chase travel portal. Find more details in our full Ink Preferred review.
- If you want a hotel credit card but aren't loyal to IHG, consider the World of Hyatt Business Credit Card. This card provides entry-level status with World of Hyatt and lets you spend your way to status. Its earning categories also adapt to you. See our full Hyatt Business Card review to learn more.
- If you're over 5/24 and want a hotel card, look at the Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card. You'll receive complimentary Gold Elite status with Marriott Bonvoy, a free night award each year (worth up to 35,000 points), and up to 7% off paid rates by holding this card. More details are in our Marriott Bonvoy Business Card review.
- 3X points per $1 on the first $150,000 spent in combined purchases on travel, shipping purchases, Internet, cable and phone services, advertising purchases made with social media sites and search engines each account anniversary year
- 1X point per $1 on all other purchases
- Up to 9X total points per $1 spent at Hyatt – 4X points per $1 on qualifying purchases when you use your card at Hyatt hotels & 5X points per $1 you can earn as a World of Hyatt member
- 2X points per $1 spent on fitness club and gym memberships
- 1X point per $1 everywhere else
In addition, you'll earn 2X points per $1 spent in your top three spend categories each quarter. Eligible categories include:
- Dining
- Shipping
- Airline tickets when purchased directly with the airline
- Local transit & commuting
- Social media & search engine Advertising
- Car rental agencies
- Gas stations
- Internet, cable & phone services
(Terms apply)
- 6x Marriott Bonvoy points on each dollar of eligible purchases at hotels participating in the Marriott Bonvoy® program.
- 4x Marriott Bonvoy points on each dollar of eligible purchases made at restaurants worldwide, at U.S. gas stations, on wireless telephone services purchased directly from U.S. service providers and on U.S. purchases for shipping
- 2x Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card points per dollar on all other eligible purchases
Related: Top Small-Business Credit Card Offers for This Month
Bottom Line
For current or prospective IHG loyalists, the IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card is a valuable wallet addition that can make each stay more rewarding. Plus, a bevy of annual fee-justifying perks all but make the card a must-have for those who plan to spend more than a few nights in an IHG property every year.
For rates and fees of the cards mentioned in this post, please visit the following links: IHG One Rewards Premier Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (Rates & Fees), World of Hyatt Business Credit Card (Rates & Fees), and Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card (Rates & Fees)
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